Robert K Stephen (CSW)

RKS 2025 Wine: The Liquor Control Board of Ontario Embarrasses Itself Yet Again

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) everyone’s favourite liquor monopoly has soiled itself yet again. It mouths a rah rah rah for Ontario wines but rarely delivers except for the wines of Niagara but even there…. In the 13September2025 Vintages Release catalogue the cover of the catalogue trumpets “We’re All In On Ontario”. TheContinue reading “RKS 2025 Wine: The Liquor Control Board of Ontario Embarrasses Itself Yet Again”

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Redstone 2021 Gamay Noir

Aroma: Raspberry, Niagara red cherry and a generous dosage of French oak. Palate: Restrained and tight giving little rein to the raspberry and cherry but not stifling it. Short finish with light and passing tannins. Personality: So if I don’t flaunt my fruit this is a matter of choice and style. Cellarbility: Drink now. FoodContinue reading “RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Redstone 2021 Gamay Noir”

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Ontario Sauvignon Blanc from Wending Home: Elegance with Attitude

If you are mired in the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc mud you enjoy its “thickness” and potency as the old gooseberry and cat’s pee hits you squarely in the eyes. If you prefer a “thinner” or perhaps more elegant Sauvignon Blanc you might turn to Bordeaux or Ontario! I enjoy Sauvignon Blancs from Bordeaux andContinue reading “RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Ontario Sauvignon Blanc from Wending Home: Elegance with Attitude”

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Rosehall Run’s 2024 Unoaked Chardonnay From Prince Edward County in Ontario, Canada

Rosehall Run 2024 Unoaked Chardonnay is an “entry level” Chardonnay from Rosehall Run in Prince Edward County although it is a VQA Ontario wine as opposed to VQA Prince Edward County. Wonder if the grapes were trucked in from Niagara? Aroma: Pear, apple, lemon, pineapple and some lemon meringue pie. Palate: Crisp and taut. WhileContinue reading “RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Rosehall Run’s 2024 Unoaked Chardonnay From Prince Edward County in Ontario, Canada”

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Bachelder Bai Xu Single Vineyard 2021 Gamay Noir

From vines planted in 1981. 32% whole cluster. Decant for one hour imparting more life and fruit. Aroma: Loads of red cherry! Secondary notes of raspberry. Tertiary notes of dark chocolate and earthiness. Palate: Not much tannic grip. Smooth. Modest acidity. Airy cherry and raspberry. Fruity. Long peppered finish with a tiny bit of sweetness.Continue reading “RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Bachelder Bai Xu Single Vineyard 2021 Gamay Noir”

RKS 2025 Film: “Live a Little”: Bosom Buddy Interrail On the Road Picture?

One can’t deny the Swedish film “Live a Little” falls within the on the road genre with two mid twenty buddies Laura (Embla Ingelman-Sundberg) and Alex (Aviva Wrede) seeking to tear up Europe on a trip they have been planning for years. But as in the Brit film “How to Have Sex” the surface glossContinue reading “RKS 2025 Film: “Live a Little”: Bosom Buddy Interrail On the Road Picture?”

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Liebling Wines’ 2022 Cabernet Franc

Liebling Wines is not a winery. It is what we call a virtual winery where those who craft wines use the premises and sometimes the expertise of an established winery permitting lower costs and perhaps more experimentation with small batch production. Liebling Wines finds its roots in 1984 when Matthias Oppenlaender arrived in Niagara, OntarioContinue reading “RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Liebling Wines’ 2022 Cabernet Franc”

RKS 2025 Wine: The Road Less Travelled Can Be Bumpy

Many a wine drinker is happy in their pod like Sigourney Weaver returning home in “Alien” drinking a very limited range of wines whether that be brand, varietal or geographical. It could be trepidation about moving off the beaten path. A Cabernet Sauvignon offers comfort to many a consumer but a Kéfrankos may terrorize others.Continue reading “RKS 2025 Wine: The Road Less Travelled Can Be Bumpy”

RKS Literature: Yugoslavia’s Tito: One Day a Hero of the USSR The Next Its Perfidious Enemy

“The class laughed just as unanimously when the geography teacher talked about Yugoslavia. Today Tito is a “sinister and perfidious enemy”; but it was only two weeks ago that we were shown the film: “In the Mountains of Yugoslavia”, in which Marshal Tito was awarded the Order of Victory as our best friend and faithfulContinue reading “RKS Literature: Yugoslavia’s Tito: One Day a Hero of the USSR The Next Its Perfidious Enemy”

RKS Literature: The Necessity of Slave Labour in the USSR and the Future of Socialism (Vladimir Rott)

“The abolition of private property killed people’ s desire to create, to take care of themselves, to seek paths to survival and progress. The most essential part of any country’s gross national product-the contribution of each individual’s enthusiasm-was lost. By sending hundreds of thousands of Soviet people to the labour camps, the state tried toContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Necessity of Slave Labour in the USSR and the Future of Socialism (Vladimir Rott)”